Oil-burning device



c. A. VALENTINE. OIL BURNING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I9, I9I9.

Patented July `6, 1920.

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A.II IIII IIIII,

PATENT OFFICE;

CHARLES A.. VALENTINE, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

Y' OIL-BURNING- DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 19, 1919. Serial No. 283,614.

To all whom t may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. VALEN- TINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oil-Burning Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of oil burning devices in which an absorbent or porous body is employed which may be saturated with kerosene oil or other combustible liquid, so that thereafter a slow burning flame may be obtained therefrom by lighting the gases which are given ofil by vaporization of the oil contained in the porous body. The utilization ofv fuel oil in this manner permits of not only using the oil much more economically and efficiently, but it also permits of obtaining heat quickly and readily when desired and also stopping the consumption of fuel when heat is no longer needed.

It is the object of this invention to provide a fuel burning device of this character which will absorb a much larger amount of combustible liquid than those heretofore known and .thereby generate a proportionately larger amount of vapor and insuring a flame for a longer period of time, and which permits of readily generating and lighting the vapor and controlling the size of the flame,

as well as extinguishing the same when desired. Y l

In the accompanying drawings: Figurel is a side elevation of one embodiment of my invention showing the parts in the position which they occupy when thel heating device is in use. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same, showing the position which the parts occupy when the flame is extinguished and the device folded so that the same may be stowed away compactly. Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sections taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Figs. l and 2, respectively.

`Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

1 represents the body of the oil burning device containing my invention, this body Vbeing preferably of cylindrical form and constructed of suitable porous material which can be permeated by a combustible fluid such as kerosene, so that when this body is heated this fuel will be vaporized or converted into gas and enable the same to be burned on the exterior of the body inthe form of a flame. Although the composition of this porous body may be varied, it is preferably composed of fire clay, salt and alum in the proportion, approximately, of ninety-five per cent. of fire clay, two per cent. of salt and three'per cent. of alum.v

The fire clay forms the main portion of the porous structure of the body and operates to absorb the oil which is to be vaporized and burned. The salt tends to keep the fire clay from cracking, and the alum prevents the same from becoming brittle landV chipping or breaking easily.

IVithin the center of this porous body and completely inclosed thereby -is an absorbent core 2 which ,preferably consists of asbestos or similar fibrous material. This core absorbs the fuel oil which penetrates the porous body and when the same becomes completely soaked with this fluid, it operates to store a larger quantity of oil within the porous body thanv otherwise would be possible if this body were made entirely of fire clay or similar material. As a result of this in` creased storage of oil, this device will generate a combustible gas and maintain a flame for heating purposes for a much longer period than has been possible by the use of devices of this character as heretofore constructed, thus requiring less frequent renewal of the charge of oil in the same.

The porous body is provided with a plurality of vapor or gas passages leading from the' external surface of this body toward the core therein. In the preferred construction, a plurality of horizontal passages 3 are provided which are arranged in the form of a plurality of circumferential rows one above the other, each of these passages `eX- tending from the lateral side of the body to the absorbent core. A plurality of vertical passages 4 are arranged in the upper part of the porous body, each of these last mentioned passages extending downwardly from the top or upper side -of the same and terminating at its lower end short of the absorbent core. The lower part of the porous body is also provided with a plurality of vertical passages 5 each of which extends from the underside or bottom of the body upwardly and terminates at its Patented July 6, 1920. l

i a shutter ring 13, preferably of metal, is apupper' end short of the absorbent core, this arrangement of these passages being indicated in F ig. 2.

Upon applying heat to the underside of this porous body, the same penetrates the interior through the lower vertical passages and causes the oil therein to become vaporized and issue through the horizontal and upper vertical passages, where the same when ignited burns in the form of a plu-- rality of flames or jets which can be employed either for heating or cooking in any suitable manner.

For the purpose of preventing the body of the heater from becoming lbroken or cracked, as well as facilitating the original manufacture of the same, the entire body is inclosed in a metallic casing or shell which preferably comprisesv a cylindrical wall G engaging with. the lateral side of the body, a bottom 7 connected with the lower end of the'side wall and engaging with the underside of the body, and a cover 8 engaging with the upper end or top of the body and provided with a depending annular flange 9 surrounding the upper end of the side wall. The bottom of this inclosing shell is provided with a plurality of openings 10 which register with the lower passages of the body, the side wall is provided with openings 1l which are in line with the horizontal passages of the body and the top of the shell is provided with openings 12 which are in line with the upper vertical passages in the body, as best shown in Fig, 2.

When making this heating device, a layer of porous material while in a plastic form, is placed in the bottom of the shell, the absorbent core is then placed upon this layer and surrounded by an additional layer of plastic porous material, and then an upper layer is placed in the shell so as to completely inclose the absorbent core, vafter which the top or cover is applied to the side wall for inclosing the plastic mass on all sides. 7hile this mass is still in a plastic condition, the vertical and horizontal openings are formed in the top, bottom and side portions of the shell and in the porous body by means of a tool of suitable construction, after which the plastic mass is baked thoroughly before the heater is put to use.

In order to permit of regulating the vaporization of the oil in the porous body and absorbent core and the size of the flame issuing from the horizontal passages thereof,

plied to the outer side of the side wall of the shell so as to be capable of sliding vertically thereon and cover a lgreater or lesser number of the horizontal passages, 'or to cover all of these passages when it is desired to extinguish the fiames at the side of the heating device. The vaporization of the oil in the lower part vof the absorbent core may either be regulated or stopped altogether by means of a lower shutter 14 which preferably is constructed in the form of a pan or dish which is movable toward and from the underside of the shell and porous body so as to either admit air to the same or eX- clude it therefrom.

In Fig. 1 the side shutter is moved down wardly into its lowermost position, so as to uncover all of the horizontal passages, and the lower shutter is moved away from the underside of the shell and porous .body to its maximum extent, in which position of the parts a fuel supply of air is admitted to the underside of the porous body for producing the greatest volume of combustible mixture and the largest volume of gas is permitted to issuefrom the side of the shell, so that the flame produced upon igniting the same together with the flame of the burning vapor on top of the shell and porous body produces the maximum amount of heat capable of being generated by this device. 'Upon raising the annular side shutter so as to cover a greater or lesser number of the horizontal passages, and also raising the pan-shaped lower shutter so as to reduce the volume of air which is admitted .to the un` -derside of the porous body, the volume of generated gas is reduced and the flame issuing from the upper and side openings of the burner is reduced accordingly.

Means are preferably provided for maintaining the side and bottom shutters in a fixed relation to each other, so that they are compelled to move simultaneously, and thus ad)l ust theside shutter relatively to the horizontal passages and the lower shutter relatively to the lower passages in the same measure. This is preferably accomplished by connecting the side and lower shutters by a plurality of upright connecting bars 15, which latter are separated from each other so as to permit air to pass freely into the space underneath the shell and porous'body. Means are also preferably provided for lo'cle ing these 'shutters in various positions relaL tively to the shell and body, which means in the form shown in Fig. 1, consist of a locking slot formed in one of the connecting bars 15 and having an upright main portion 16 and a plurality of branches 17 extending laterally from the main portion, and a locking pin 18 mounted on the wall of the inclosing shell and engaging withthe locking slot. That part of the side shutter adjacent to the upper part of the locking slot is similarly slotted, so as to practically form a part thereof. When it is desired to adjust the side and bottom shutters axially relatively to the -shell land porous body, the two shutters and their connecting arms are turned sufficiently to bring the main portion of the locking slot in line with the locking pin. While in this position the shutters may be raised and lowered tothe desired position and upon then turning the shutters in the reverse direction and engaging one of the branch portions of the locking slot with the locking pin, the shutter mechanism will be retained against vertical displacement on the shell.

Preparatory to starting this oil burning device, the shutters are lowered relatively to the shell and body and a small quantity of oil is placed in the pan-shaped lower shutter and ignited. The flame thus produced will efl'ect a preliminary heating of the porous body and start vaporization of the oil stored therein. If at this time any surplus or ex cess oil should drop from the underside of the shell and porous body into the pan, the latter will hold the same until it is burned up or store the same for subsequently producing a starting flame` for preliminarily heating the porous body the next time that the same is to be used. For thepurpose of extinguishing the heating device, it is only necessary to raise both shutters into their uppermost positions, so as to close the side and bottom passages, after which the generation of vapor will gradually die out and no further flame will appear at the top of the heating device.

For convenience in carrying this heating device from place to place, the upper part of the shell is preferably provided with a handle 19 which is constructed Vin the form of' a bail similar to those commonly employed for carrying a bucket or pail.

This device not only permits of furnishing heat in a simple and convenient manner, but the same also enables a greater amount of heat to be derived from the consumption of a certain amount of combustible fluid than would be possible if burned in the ordinary manner, thereby effecting a considerable economy in the cost of producing a flame for heating or cooking purposes.

I claim as my invention:

l. An oil burning device, comprising an oil-absorbent body having a central core of fibrous material andl a body of porous material inclosing said core on all sid'esof'the latter' and provided with passages extending inwardly from the surface of said body to said core.

2. An oil burning device, comprising an face of said body, some of said passages extending to said core and others stopping short of said core.k

3. An oil burning device, comprising an Y oil-absorbent body having a central coreV of fibrous material and a body of porous material inclosing said core and provided with horizontal passages extending from the side of the body to said core and vertical passages extending from the upper and lower sides of saidbody toward said core but stopping short of the same. v Y Y 4. An oil burning device, comprising a porous body adapted to absorb a combustible oil, a ring surrounding "said body and advjustable vertically thereon for regulating thesize and extinguishing the flame at the side of the body, and a shutter movable toward and from the underside of said body and adapted to exclude air from or admit the same thereto.

5. An oil burning device, comprising a porous body adapted to absorb a combustible oil, and a pan-shaped shutter movable toward and from the underside of said body.

7. An oil .burning device, comprising a porous body adapted to absorb a combustible oil, a ring surrounding said body and. adjustable vertically thereon for regulating the size and extinguishing the flame at the side of the body, a pan-shaped shutter mov-- abletoward and from the underside ofV said body, and bars connecting said shutter and rinfr.

8b. An oil burning device, comprising a porous body adapted to absorb a combustible oil, a ring surrounding said body and adrjustable vertically thereon for regulating the size and extinguishing the flame at they side of the body, a shutter movable toward and from the underside of said body and adapted to exclude air from or admit the same thereto and connected with said ring so as to move in unison therewith, and means for locking said ring and cshutter on l said body in different positions relatively to each other in a vertical direction.

9. An oil burning device, comprising a porous body adapted to absorb a combustible oil, a ring surrounding said body and adjustable vertically thereon for regulating the size andextinguishing the flame at the side of the body, a pan-shaped shutter Inovable toward and from the underside of said body, bars connecting said shutter and ring,

one of said bars being provided with .a lock-` ing slot having a main vertical portion and a plurality of branches extending horizontally from said main portion, and a locking pin arranged on said body and engaging with said locking slot.

10. An oil burning device, comprising a fibrous absorbent core, a porous body surrounding said core and provided With pas sages extending from its upper, lower and lateral sides toward said core, and a metal 10 shell inelosing said body and having openings in line with said passages and consisting of a side Wall and bottom permanently attached to the side and bottom of said body,

and a cover removably applied to the upper 15 end of said side Wall and top of said body.

CHARLES A. VALENTINE. 

